Direct ex vivo simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-specific cytotoxic activity detected from small intestine intraepithelial lymphocytes of SIV-infected macaques at an advanced stage of infection.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) induces a profound disorganization of the lymphoid tissues with marked abnormalities of the immune system at the terminal stage of infection. Since the digestive mucosal immune system is by far the largest lymphoid organ of the body, we attempted to evaluate its functional activity in advanced stages of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection in the SIV-macaque model of HIV infection. Two chronically intravenously SIV-infected macaques, including one at the AIDS stage, were studied. Intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) were isolated, analyzed, and compared to lymphocytes obtained from blood, spleen, and different lymph nodes: IEL were predominantly CD8+ T lymphocytes expressing the alphaE beta7 integrin and lacking the CD28 coactivatory molecule. A direct ex vivo SIV-specific cytotoxic activity was prominently found in the IEL of both macaques and was weaker or absent in the other sites. To our knowledge, this is the first report of SIV-specific cytotoxic activity from small intestine IEL in SIV-infected macaques. Considering the high similitude of the SIV-macaque model with the HIV infection in humans, these results may be highly important for the pathogenesis of HIV infection and more generally important for the characterization and function of digestive CD8+ IEL population.